I like to lift heavy things, make colorful food, write, and talk about pop culture.

Coming to Life

Proprioception is the body’s ability to sense position within itself and with regards to the external environment. It’s something we lose awareness of when sitting at all, whether in front of the computer screen at work or the TV screen at home. I know. We need to work and we also need to watch TV, but giving yourself at least 30 minutes to move your body provides it with much more than calorie burn.

One of the coolest things about studying for my Personal Training certificate is understanding the complexities behind how the body functions and just how cool that is. Now when I exercise, I think about how everything ties together to create movement and it fuels me to work harder. Exercising wakes up the body, makes it move, and brings it to life.

It’s also a battle, messy, imperfect, and hard.

Next time you workout, think about your heart beating, feet meeting the pavement, limbs threading through the water, muscles powering weights, and realize how powerful that is!

This was something that stuck in my head during my morning swim and I found that it pushed me to move faster. I started the day with a kettlebell circuit followed by a body strength circuit that woke me up when my body would have preferred to continue sleeping.

My workout yesterday was a four mile run. It was hilly and difficult. My feet hurt from my new sneakers, which lead them to eventually fall asleep. My calves hurt from the extra pressure on them thanks to the feet. Blisters on my ankles were sore and bloody. I was a sweaty mess and yet, it felt great. Sometimes, it won’t feel great and sometimes I’ll have to walk or struggle my way through. There were obstacles and parts of it that weren’t fun, but it was something my body needed.

Now let’s talk about food! Grilled tilapia with rice and veggies made up yesterday’s lunch after my run.

Dinner was a chicken cutlet with creamy white sauce, spinach rice, and grilled Brussels sprouts I tossed with a mixture of olive oil and maple syrup.

For breakfast this morning after my workout, I knew I need something to power me through a large chunk of time while I was at work. I went with an egg scramble with waffles, raspberries, and half of a banana.

While I did have to snack on a few almonds at work and I munched on an apple right when I got home, I made a salad for myself with some grilled chicken for protein and a side of cranberry walnut bread that I grilled for an added yummy factor.